Londoners are the biggest savers in Great Britain, a new survey suggests, with regular savers putting away £1,096 each month on average.

However regular savers in Wales and Yorkshire and Humber are outdoing those in the South East as a whole, the survey from challenger bank Charter Savings Bank revealed.

The bank found the amount amount put away by regular savers in the capital is 'significantly higher than the rest of the UK and is nearly five times as much as people in the North East, who are saving just £221 each month'.

Savers in Wales take second spot in the savings rankings, with £671 per person being put away each month - though this is just over half of what savers in London put away.

Get in the habit of saving not spending: Regular savers in London put away nearly £1,100 each on average

In third spot is the Yorkshire and Humber region, where residents save £574 a month on average.

But savers in Wales and Yorkshire and Humber are still saving more than the more affluent South East, where savers put away £552 a month on average.

However the challenger bank found that a significant number of people do not have any savings at all. If the survey factored in savers and non-savers alike, the average amount saved in each region would be considerably lower.

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Only those considered 'regular savers' were polled in the survey, in which savings were defined as 'all savings and investments in any accounts (current accounts, Isas, etc.), investments, shares, any properties owned outright and pension funds'.

It found that 27 per cent of residents of the North East, 24 per cent in the North West and South West and 22 per cent in the West Midlands who don't have any savings at all.

Paul Whitlock, director of Savings at Charter Savings Bank, said: 'While it may come as little surprise that Londoners are saving more each month than most, it is encouraging to see that in every region across the UK people are getting into the savings habit.

'With people up and down the country demonstrably putting money away each month, savers must take this opportunity to ensure that their money is working as hard as possible.'

How does your region fare? London, Wales are Yorkshire and Humber are leading the way

Earlier this year the Prime Minister hinted at a scheme soon to be launched designed to encourage people to save. In a speech, the Prime Minister announced that a national 'help to save' scheme will launch later this year - most likely at the start of the new tax year on 6 April - for those on low incomes with the aim of encouraging them to build up a rainy day fund.

He also said primary schoolchildren learning about how to manage money and save is a 'vital area' and so the Government will be expanding a Church of England project to ensure the next generation are clued up about their finances.

More details about schemes are expected to be announced by the Chancellor in his Budget on March 16.

Savers have had to put up with years of rock-bottom returns on their cash, with rates falling even further in recent months.

Since 2011, the average rate on a two-year fixed bond has almost halved, according to Moneyfacts, with the average rate on a two-year fixed bond almost halved, down from 3.20 per cent five years ago to just 1.72 per cent today.

The picture is not much better for those happy to lock away their cash for longer, with five-year fixed rates recording a drop from 4.01 per cent to just 2.59 per cent over the same period.

Meanwhile 75 per cent of the easy access deals available pay one per cent or less at the moment, Moneyfacts research shows.